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Learn Korean with KoreanClass101.com! To continue on with age and politeness levels, we’re going over kinship terms in today’s culture class. Kinship terms, such as mother, father, brother and sister are used, of course with family members, but also with people that aren’t related. You can even call your boyfriends… “brother” (eww…). But these are very commonly used in everyday speech in Korea, so please give us an opportunity to explain! And after listening, remember to stop by KoreanClass101.com and leave us a comment!



This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Korean Culture Class . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

27 Responses to “Korean Culture Class #6 - We’re All Family”

KoreanClass101.com says:

Have you ever heard these terms in movies? Or dramas?

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Daniel K says:

Very interesting. I sometimes hear these familiar terms among my students. Usually they’re all the same age in a classroom, so it’s more common to hear them call each other “ya.” But occasionally there’s a student who’s a little older– or just a bit better at English. Other students will get this older/more skilled student’s attention using the kinship terms.

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비누 says:

저도 ‘형’이라고 하면, 한국영화 ‘Brotherhood(태극기 휘날리며 )’의 ‘원빈’이 말한 …‘형~!형~!’이 생각나요 .. :cry:

전 언니는 괜찮은데 젊은 남자로부터 누나라고 부르리면 아직 좀 쑥스러워요 :oops:

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Taliana says:

I have a friend that I always call 언니, and she really does take care of me as if she was my big sister. She gives me advice whenever I need it, and she’s always all “TALI 파이팅~!” when she knows I need encouragement in something. It’s really nice to have an 언니, because I don’t have any siblings myself, and nearly all of my friends are younger than me.

Seol, I want an 오빠 like that too!

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선현우 says:

설, I can’t believe you didn’t watch the movie 태극기 휘날리며 but then, I didn’t watch the drama 가을동화. Haha. :D

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선현우 says:

Daniel,

That’s right :) “야” is very common, but as you get older it gets less and less commonplace. I think I stopped calling my friends “야” a few years ago except when I mean “hey, wait!” :-)

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선현우 says:

비누 누나!

“태극기 휘날리며” 영화 어땠어요? 저는 원빈은 다 좋은데 목소리가 좀…… :)

그리고 “부르리면”은 “불리면”이 더 좋아요!

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선현우 says:

Boys want the kind of 누나 who can give them advice and encouragement too! :-) When you meet someone in Korea, starting to call them 누나, 형, 언니, or 오빠 makes the relationship suddenly so much closer (in most cases), so I feel really comfortable calling people 형 or 누나 if they are older than me, except for when I’m at work.

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Jacqueline (쟈클린) says:

I love those kinship terms. That was one of the first words i learned in korean^^, thanks to the Dramas. ^^
My favorite kinship word is 오빠 too. :grin:

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rigo says:

i became familiar with these terms by watching korean dramas , sounds cute when girls say oppa

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선현우 says:

Yes I think 오빠 sounds very cute too :D I wonder what girls think when someone calls them 누나 :)

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Sindy says:

WOW! :shock:

I’m surprise that we can call a boyfriend, brother:???:
It’s very interest to learn this for the first time! :razz:
I haven’t watch Korean dramas and movies lately. :oops: S_R_C

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seoulsista says:

yea, i like 오빠 too! it’s really nice to have someone like that :mrgreen: :mrgreen: And I like 동생’s too! They’re always really cute :) :)

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비누 says:

현우☆

‘태극기 휘날리며’ 보면..가슴이 너무너무 아파 져요….원빈의 목소리는 이 영화로 처음 들었는데, 생각보다 남자다운 목소리이었으니까 좀 놀랐어요.
하지만 ‘형~!! 형~!! ’라고 들으면 ‘누나가 도와 줄게!!!!’라고 생각해요. 힘도 없는 저인데..

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb8IhwKp-Zk&feature=related

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선현우 says:

I agree that the cutest of them all is 오빠 too. :D

비누 누나, 저도 “태극기를 휘날리며”에서 나오는 원빈 역은 정말 딱!! 완벽하게 맞았다고 생각해요. 그렇게 생각하는 사람이 많아서 영화가 성공한 것 같구요.

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Taliana says:

Hmm, what would you call your stepmother or stepfather?

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Taliana says:

And if you just call them 엄마 and 아빠, how would you make it clearer if you were telling someone about your family that you mean your stepparent not your birth parent?

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Keith says:

Hey Taliana,

I have a step mother and I was told to call her 새엄마, which is literally “new mother.” I didn’t really like to call her that because it just sounded strange to me… because it wasn’t like my birth mother wasn’t around. So I simply call her “엄마” mom now.

To make it clear that she isn’t my birth mother, I would say “we aren’t the same blood.” 같은 피 아니예요. But then again.. that may be a bit too direct - and a bit disrespectful to my step-mother?

Sorry, I’m stumped on this one! :cry:

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Taliana says:

Hahaha wow, I can’t imagine either my stepmum or my mum being too pleased about “새엄마” XD;;

Thanks Keith!

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The KoreanClass101.com Blog says:

[…] It’s kind of hard to translate the concept literally but these titles are used quite frequently in Korean. Actually, here’s a great lesson on just that. English can be quite direct at times. Whether that is a good or bad thing, indirectness is more favored in Korean. In English, we like to use names to be polite whereas Koreans prefer the use of titles like 선생님. Certainly there are times when Korean can express some of the most direct concepts possible, but on the whole, Korean functions in an indirect manner most of the time. […]

bob says:

umm actually Korean favors names + 씨 to titles unless you’re in an academic/business setting…I.e. acquaintances people you just meet, you don’t call them 주인 or 사장님 even if they are owners/bosses

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Colin (콜린) says:

I’m just curious. Should I do everything in order as in All the Newbie seasons before going on to absolute beginner seasons, or should I go like Newbie S1, Abs Beginner S1, Beginner S1 and so on?

Also, is it advisable to learn all my hangul first before proceeding with these lessons? What is the best way to learn hangul (and approaching the hangul lessons on koreanclass101?)

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Tim says:

Hello Colin(콜린),
Thanks for being interested in learning Korean.
We will do our best to help you improve Korean.
Okay, here is my suggestion.

First, learn ‘Hangeul’ first. It’s like learning English alphabet before learning English. Korean has 10 basic vowels and 14 basic consonants.
Learning ‘Hangeul’ is absolutely important for any learner to start learning Korean.

Second, the order is like this -
Absolute Beginner, Newbie, Beginner, Lower Intermediate, Intermediate, and Advanced.
Season?? Is Newbie S1 related to Absolute Beginner S1? Since I don’t know about it, I can’t tell you. However, one thing I can tell you is this - It’s better to find your favorite host(s) first. And follow his/her lessons.

Third, enjoy listening and learning Korean.
My name is Tim and I’ve just finished creating Absolute Beginner Season 2. I hope I can meet you throughout my lessons. But, other hosts and lessons are great as well! Thanks,
cheers,

Tim :cool:

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Clement says:

Awesome lesson! I’ve been learning steadily since August and finished the first two beginner seasons. I can have short conersations that are basic in nature, and I thought I’d come over here and see what interesting things there were here. Just a couple questions…
First, the kinship terms for mother and father. In the lesson it was mentioned that you should call your friends’ parents eomeoni and abeoji. Does it matter if you aren’t actually Korean? I want to call my friends’ parents that all the time, but I’m not sure how that would be coming from a non-Korean. In Chinese culture, we do the same and call our friends’ parents family terms, but we call them auntie” and “uncle.” It isn’t so much I feel weird doing it, and I called my friend’s dad ajeoshi once, and he kind of just laughed and said, “Oh you knw that term!” I’m not sure what to make of it. lol
Second, what would I call someone who is older than me but is not a parent of a friend? I’m part of the Korean ministry at my Church, and the lady who leads our international group is in her mid 30s (I’m guessing). I’m 19, and I I’m not exactly sure how to address her. I use her name with the shi suffix but am not sure whether that should change as I get to know her better or not.
Third and last of all… and this is more in the area of politeness levels.. but I thought since I was already here I’d just mention it. How does one tell how long do I have to kow someone for before I can use intimate politeness level as opposed to standard? Or, more appropriately, how close do I have to be with them? I bring this up again because of my church again, and there a friend of mine and myself are more or less the youngest people there. Everyone else is in their 20s to 40s, and when Imeet someone for the first time I always stick to standard, but I have no way of knowing when to change my speech patterns, and this confused me in Japanese as well. haha
So, having said all that… I’m still learning but it’s getting better… and having an entire ministry of Koreans at church helps a lot, because I can practice, particularly during lunch where I also get very good Korean food! That, and I get to see the culture and society in motion, as I like to think of it. Ad for those wondering, I am using romanization because I am a totally blind learner, and my screen reader cannot read Hangul, which is also why I haven’t managed to learn it yet.. but I want to, and hope I find a solution soon. :)

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Koreanclass101.com says:

Hello Clement,

Thank you for the comment and questions. We’re glad to hear that our lessons have helped you improve your Korean language.

1. Although you’re not Korean, it’s important to address someone correctly. So I would like to recommend you call someone else’s mother or father as 어머니 (eomoni) or 아버지(abeoji) / or you can say 어머님 (emeonim) or 아버님(abeonim) with more politeness. Those two can be only used for someone else’s parents. It’s not good to call them as auties and uncles because Korean people use the vocabularies to strangers or clerks. (like staff at restaurants or car service centers)

2. In that case, Korean people usually call her by the job title + 님. For example, if her job title is manager, then you can say 매니저님 (manijeo-nim). You don’t have to call someone’s name if you call his/her job title. Or you can simply call her first name+님(nim) such as 순이님(sunni-nim for someone whose first name is 순이 sunni)

3. When you meet someone, you should be polite by saying everything with 습니다(seumnida) or 입니다(imnida). After that, it’s all up to you and the person. Usually, you will be asked your age, and they will say ‘내가 말 편하게 해도 되지(naega mal peyonhage haedo doiji)?’ which means ‘can I say something in informal way from now?’ to make the level of the politeness level. However, some people don’t care of the age, so they just say ‘말 편하게 해(mal peyonhage hae) ‘ (meaning ’say in informal way / friendly’) although they are older than you. So it’S all up to you and the person. However, it’s important to talk in formal way especially if you just started getting know about the person.

I hope thos helps. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you.

- Jaehwi / Koreanclass101.com

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Clement says:

So it would be “abeoji or “eomeoni”… thanks for confirming that. I also heard from a couple of people when I asked them about politeness levels, they told me it isn’t as big of a deal because I’m a foreigner so even if I do happen to mess it up, people will just correct me. It seems like this varies from person to person as people on here tend to think it’s huge. I believe it does matter regardless of whether I’m actually Korean or not. My thought is, if I’m learning the language, I want to be as, for lack of a better word, Korean as I can be. Not just in the language, but in the culture, society, etc. Thanks for all the clarification… it really does help a lot.

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Koreanclass101.com says:

안녕하세요. Hello,

I’m Jaehwi from Koreanclass101.com

Thank you for the comment. I understand what your friend said about the politeness levels since people will understand and correct your Korean if you would say something incorrectly as a foreigner. And I agree with your idea that you should have higher goal to learn Korean language including using the correct politeness level when speaking Korean. And when you have a chance to meet people in 40s or later, I believe they might not have enough idea of learning Korean as a foreigner, so they might feel uncomfortable if you use incorrect Korean. That’s why I would like to ask you learn more about the politeness level as possible.

Thank you for the comment again, and feel free to ask us if you have any questions or feedbacks : )

감사합니다. Thank you.

- Jaehwi / Koreanclass101.com

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